Andrew benson



A. BENSON. SHEET METAL WHEEL AND THE LIKE AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9. Wm.

.L803,236I Patented May 13, 1919. I291 M2917 new InuenZZr:

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STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW BENSON, OF JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO JANESVILLE PRODUCTSI COMPANY, OF JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

SHEET-METAL WHEEL AND THE LIKE AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAlVIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented'May 13, 1919.

Application filed February 9, 1918. Serial No. 216,200.

Wheels and the like and Processes of Making Same, of which the followingis a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in sheet metal wheels and thelike and process of making same.

So far as I am aware, no one has heretofore been able to manufacturesatisfactorily a sheet metal wheel having a hollow tubular rim formedintegrally with spokes or other central section of the wheel from asingle sheet of metal, due to the inability to obtain a true tubularformation of rim by simply stamping and pressing of the rim.

One object of my invention is to provide as an article of manufactureand process of making same, a sheet metal wheel havin a'hollow tubularrim or grip portion, whic wheel is formed from a single sheet of metalby a novel series of stamping and die pressing operations and whereinthe tubular rim is of substantially true circular form in cross sectionthroughout to thereby form a smooth gripping surface for the user.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide as an article ofmanufacture and process, a sheet metal wheel of the character aboveindicated which can be obtained cheaply and by comparatively simplestamping and presslng operations.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, I have shown myinvention as carried out in the manufacture of a sheet metal wheelsuitable for steering childrens wagons or carts, but as will be obviousto those skilled in the art, the uses to which the completed article maybe put are numerous and I do not intend that the specific descriptionherein contained shall be construed in a limiting sense but rather asmerely descriptive. It is evident, for instance, that the wheels whichterm is used generically throughout the specification and claims to meanany article of like characterlstics may be used for operating valves,steam fittings, etc.

In said drawing, Figure 1 is a top plan v1ew of a sheet of metal showingthe same at the end of the first operation in carrying out the process.Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustratmg the condition ofthe article at the .end of the next or stamping step. Fig. 4

is an enlarged side elevational view of a section of the rim flangeportion of the article as shown in Fig. 3 and after certain notches havebeen out therein. Fig. 5 is a view similar to'Fi 4 illustrating theconditlonof the rim ange portion at the end of the next or die pressingoperation. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional. view taken substantially on theline 66 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 1s a sectional view of the wheel after the rimhas been completely formed, the section corresponding substantially tothe line 7-7 of Flg. 3, although Fig. 3 is not intended to represent thearticle in the condition shown in Fig; 7. Fig. 8 is a view similar toFig. 3 illustrating the completed wheel.

And Fig. 9 is a sectional view of'thecompleted wheel taken substantiallyon the line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

In carrying out my invention, I first take a sheet of metal of thedesired gage, and with the same out to the desired shape and size, Ipress the same so as to provide an annular depending rim flange 10 and acentral dished or concaved portion 11, the rim flange 10 and centralportion 11 being united by a curved section 12. As shown most clearly inFig. 9, the completed wheel has the spokes thereof ofl'set downwardlyrelatively to the horizontal plane defined by the rim and the centraldished portion 11 shown in Fig. 2 is concaved to correspond to will beunderstood. a

The article as shown in Fig. 2, is next subjected to a stampin operationby-which the sections correspon ing to the spaces indicated at 13-13 inFig. 3 arecut out, thus leaving a series of radial arms or spokes14-44:. During this same operation, the central portion of the disk orplate may be -punched as indicated at 15, so as to prothe desiredoffsetting above mentioned, ,as

vide means, in the finished article, for suitably attaching the wheel toa post or other member. Also, during this step, the rim portion is bentso as to provide an upper substantially semi-circular section, asindicated most clearly at 16 in Fig. 3. Said semi-circular section 16 ismade somewhat less than a true semi-circle by leaving an interior narrowflange 17, as also indicated in Fig. 3.

In the next step of the process, the marginal or rim flange 10 is cutwith a series of tapered notches, as indicated at 1818 in Fig. 4, thesenotches being spaced at equal distances apart and being sodesigned as tocompensate for the decreased circumference of the free edges 19 of therim flange when said free edges 19 are brought to their final position,as shown in Figs. 7 and 9. The depth of the notches 18 is made such thatthe notches, in the finished wheel, will become slits 120, as indicatedin Figs. 7 and 9, which extend only from the lowest point of the rim.During this step also, the narrow flange 17, referred to above inconnection with Fig. 3, is bent-Ito conform to the substantiallysemi-circular portion 16 to thereby complete the semi-circular sectionof the rim, as indicated 1 at 116 in Fig. 6. That is,

the upper half of the wheel rim iscompleted at the end of the stepillustrated in Fig. 4.

The next step in the process I consider radically new and the one whichenables me to obtain a substantially perfect tubular annular rim in thecompleted article, and this step consists in bending or die pressingeach section 20 of-the notched flange toward the center of the Wheel ortransversely, as indicated by the portion marked 21in Fig. 6 and in alsobending or die pressing each section of the rim flange 20 lengthwisethereof so as to present a concave outer surface for each section 20, asindicated at 22 in Figs. 5 and 6. The double bending of the sections 20of the notched flange may be carried out simultaneously in actualpractice. The curvature of the sections 20 as indicated at 21, that is,in a manner to,complement the semi-circular section 116, is done tofacilitate the final curling or pressing of the rim into tubular form.The other bending of the notched flange portions, as indicated at 22, ismade such that the radius of the concavity 22 will correspond to theradius from the center of the finished wheel to the nearest portion ofthe completed tubular rim thereof. In other words, the free edges of thenotched sections of the rim flange are bent, before thefinal formationof the rim, in such a manner that said free edges become true sectionsof a circle corresponding to the inner circle of the annular rim. Wereit not for the concaving of the sections 20 of the rim flange, saidsections 20 in the completed tubular rim would form a series of bulgeson the inner portion of the rim and the latter would not be of truecircular cross section.

' The next step in the process is illustrated by Fig. 7 and consists incompleting the curling or bending of the rim portion of the wheel so asto bring the free edges of the notched portions 20 to abut the inneredge 23 of the upper semi-circular section of the rim, this actioncompleting the formation of the tubular rim.

To provide additional strength in the spokes of the wheel and also tohave the finished article present a better appearance, the wheel isfinally subjected to a drawing operation whereby the spokes are providedwith ribs 24-24 and a boss at the center of the wheel, as indicated at25.

From the preceding description, it will be seen that with my invention Iam enabled 85 to manufacture a sheet metal spoked wheel having anintegral tubular rim by a comparativcly simple process and one which maybe carried out in five steps to form the completed article illustratedin Figs. 8 and 9. It will also be noted that I'avoid the use of flexibleor collapsible cores in the formation of the rim.

While I have herein described the steps as occurring in a certainsequence which I 95 consider preferable, nevertheless it is evident thatthe sequence of some of the steps may be varied without departing fromthe spirit 'of the invention and also that various other changes andmodifications may be employed within the scope of the claims appendedhereto.

I claim:

'1. The herein described process which consists in; providing a sheet ofmetal stamped and pressed into circular form withthe rim comprising asubstantially semi-circular portion and a flange tangential thereto,said flange portion being notched at intervals along its free edge;bending the portion of the flanges between the notches in a direcion tocontinue the curvature of said semicircular portion of the rim; bendingeach portion of said flange between pairs of notches to a concave form;and completing the rim by bending said portions of the rim flange untilthe free edges thereof come into engagement with the inner edge of saidsemi-circular rim portion.

2. The process of manufacturing a sheet metal wheel and the like whichconsists in; providing a sheet of metal stamped and pressed 1ntocircular form with the rim thereof comprising a substantiallysemi-circular portion and a flange tangential thereto, the flange beingnotched at intervals; then simultaneously bending the portions of saidflan e between notches transversely and 3. The process of manufacturingsheet metal wheels and the like which consists in;

providing a sheet of metal stamped and pressed into circular form withthe rim comprising a curved portion and a flange portion, said flangeportion being notched atintervalsalong its freeedge; then die pressingeach portion of said flange between pairs of notches longitudinallythereof so as to gresent anouter concave surface; and then ie'pressingthe flange portions of the rim so as to complete the circular crosssection thereof.

4. The process of manufacturing sheet metal wheels and the like whichconsists in; providing a sheet of metal stamped and pressed to acireular formation with a rim comprising a curved portion and a flange;notching said flange in its free edge to compensate for a. smallercircumference when the flange is subsequently bent; then bending saidflange so as *to bring the free edges thereof into contact-with theinner edge ofsaid curved portion of the rim.

5. The process of manufacturi-n sheet metal wheels and the like whichconsists in;

providing a sheet of metal of circular form having a central portion.and a eripheral flange; cutting out sections of t e central portion tothereby provide a series. of; radially extending spokes; notching saidperiphsaid flange so as to bring the free edges of t e notched ortionsinwardly and upwardly to'the' leve of the central portion. v

6. The process of manufacturing sheet metal wheels and the like whichconsists in;

. taking a sheet of metal and pressing the same val's; bending eachportion 0 so as to provide a central dished portion and a circular rimflange; cutting out sections of saidcentral portiomto' thereby providespokes; notching said fiangeportion at intersaid rim flange betweenapair of notches in a direction lonitudinally of each said portion; andfinally bending said rim flange to a circular form in cross section.

7. The herein described process of manufacturing sheet metal wheels andthe like which consists in; stamping and pressing a sheet of metal intocircular form with a central dished portion and a peripheral flange;cutting away sections of said dished portion to form spokes and at thesame time formin the rim of the wheelwith a substantial y semi-circularsection to which said flan 'e is tangential; notching said flange at preetermined intervals; simultaneously die pressing the sections of saidflange between notches transversely and longitudinally of each saidsection; and then die pressing the flange sections transversely of thelatter until the freeedges of the notched flange sections engage withthe inner edge of said semi-circularportion of the rim.

8. As an article of manufacture, a wheel like member having a pluralityof spokes and an annular hollow rim, said spokes and rim leaving s aceseach of which isbounded by a pair 0 spokes and a portion of the rim,said rim bein circular in cross section taken 1 on a radial p anepassing between any pair of spokes, all portions of said memberbeinglntegrally formed from a single sheet of metal. 1 1

9. The process of manufacturing sheet metal wheels and the like whichconsists inproviding a sheet of metal. stamped and pressed into circularform with the rim com prising a curved portion and a flange; ortion,said flange portion being notche at intervals therealong; then diepressing-the flange portions of the rim so as tocomplete ANDRE BENsoiSI;

Witnesses:

W. R. KonLER, R. EL WISNER.

